'Special' indeed: Bearcats head back to state tournament

It took 35 years - more than 12,000 days - but Ruston boys basketball is headed back to the state tournament.

The No. 2 seeded Bearcats defeated the No. 7 Barbe Buccaneers 70-33 in the Division I non-select quarterfinals Friday, advancing to the LHSAA state tournament in Lake Charles for the first time since 1988.

“I know I keep saying it and I’m a broken record, and that’s the way I coach as well: they want to win,” Ruston head coach Ryan Bond said postgame. “They want to win. They want to win for each other. They want to play hard for each other. They want to play defense. They want to rebound. They want to do all those things. They’re unselfish. They’re just everything you want in a group of kids.”

Braylan McNeal led with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks, while Aidan Anding scored 14 points with four three-pointers.

The Bearcats weren’t feeling like a tense battle to decide who would make the trip to state Friday night.

Instead, Ruston jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to three-pointers from Anding and Lontravious Dimmer, forcing an early timeout from Barbe.

Soon 8-0 became 10-0. Then 15-0.

It wasn’t until the 2:26 mark of the first quarter that Barbe got on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws.

By the end of the opening frame, Ruston led 22-4, and Barbe had still not made a shot from the field and had committed six turnovers.

It was more of the same in the second, as Ruston turned up a defensive pressure that was already at a 10 to off the dial, leading by as much as 25 in the quarter.

Barbe continued to go ice cold from the field and coughed up the ball in numerous possessions, much to the vocal dismay of Buccaneer fans and coaches.

It wasn’t until the 5:25 mark of the second quarter that the Bucs made their first shot from the field on a layup from Jabbari Barry.

But by half, the Bearcats remained in control 40-17.

McNeal scored 10 of his points in the quarter, and Bond had plenty of praise for his senior leader.

“Braylan has been here since day one with us. He’s been our MVP,” Bond said. “He’s just so much for us, not only offense, defense.”

But for as euphoric a feeling as Bond felt after his team overcame the decades of oh-so-close moments for the program, the fourth-year head coach had another date on his mind: Nov. 10, 2022.

On that day, the Bearcats hadn’t played a game this season. No official stats kept. No 29 wins in the book.

And yet, Bond made his optimism for his squad as clear as crystal, maybe clearer than most coaches would care to say five days out from the first game of the season.

Lake Charles was always on the Bearcats’ mind.

“I’m not gonna have all the coach speak, ‘Yeah, we’re OK. We might win one or two,’” Bond said Nov. 10 after practice was over. “This team has a chance to be really special.”

Two games remain, but Bond knows something special was already accomplished Friday night.

“They bought in and they allow us to push them,” Bond said postgame. “They allow us to help get the most out of them. They know that we care about them. They know that we want them to be champions. I’m proud.”

Barbe attempted as close to a run as you can get down 23, starting the first two minutes of the third on a 5-1 run to make it 41-22 with 6:08 left.

Ruston called timeout and decided it had enough of that, going on a 8-0 run in less than two minutes to lead 49-22.

By the end of the third, Ruston extended its lead to 59-26 and put away any semblance of a comeback from the Buccaneers.

“It’s special, but we’ve got two more,” Bond said. “I didn’t have any props, I didn’t have any ladders, I didn’t have any scissors set out. I just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do what we did Tuesday. We’re the better team, go out there and execute and we’re going to come out on top.’”